


Where I Belong

by Karios



Category: Baywatch (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Coming Out, Established Relationship, Family Dinners, Family Issues, Late Night Conversations, Love, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28084266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karios/pseuds/Karios
Summary: Four times when they came out, one time they did not need to, and a story of family in five parts.
Relationships: Eddie Kramer/Craig Pomeroy/Gina Pomeroy
Comments: 9
Kudos: 9
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Where I Belong

**Author's Note:**

  * For [phnelt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phnelt/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide, phnelt!
> 
> Thanks to xslytherclawx, sinkauli, Cody, and Liv for your help!

Craig could admit that, even though he’d never been happier, his life laid out on paper was not an objective point of pride. He wasn't ashamed of any of it: he loved the work he did; he loved his home and his beach; he loved coming home to two people who meant everything to him. Thanksgiving was less than a week away. His parents would be in town in just a few days, and suddenly he was looking at his life through their eyes. 

Craig wasn’t sure how to tell them anything. He could already imagine the pair of horrified expressions he was to face when they discovered he'd left the firm—a fact he had kept hidden from them for the better part of a year now—and all the time he was spending at the beach. 

And of course those two revelations paled in comparison to the elephant in the room. An adorable elephant who deliciously filled out his pair of board shorts, who charmed his way into Craig's spare closet and his heart, who...kept tugging at his tie as if it was choking him.

“Eddie,” Gina said reproachfully, and then swooped in to straighten it. “Stop that, you'll get Craig started.” She kissed Eddie gently to redirect him and Eddie stopped fidgeting to loop his arms around Gina's waist instead. 

Gina was now murmuring something too low for Craig to make out, so his focus zeroes in on Eddie's face instead. The fond look in his eyes and the trace of Gina's lipstick that clung to Eddie's lips as she pulled away. It stunned Craig sometimes, just how attracted he still was to the both of them, and to seeing them together. Craig wished he could heed the call of his baser instincts and herd all three of them back into the bedroom. He definitely had ways to help Eddie appreciate that offending tie.

Craig physically shook off the thought and reminded himself he needed to stay focused. He, Gina, and Eddie had settled on formally coming out to Mitch first, a sort of rehearsal dinner before they tried with family.

It was time, perhaps even past time. Mitch had figured out something was new in Craig's life and had been making guesses for weeks. At first it was fun, Mitch was usually giving him crap about something or other, but recently curiosity had crossed the line to concern. 

When Craig got the door, he could tell Mitch was already on guard. His greeting of choice “What's with the monkey suits?” was a transparent clue.

Craig shrugged, and before he could come up with an answer less revealing than telling Mitch how a suit lent him confidence and authority, Eddie chimed in with, “Because it’s a special night, and we cooked actual food.”

“Don't worry,” Gina added, “You’ll be back to takeout hastily devoured in swimwear next time.”

“Okay.” Mitch rocked back on his heels and stood there as if he'd been planted by the door, so Craig ushered him toward the table. Gina and Eddie, meanwhile, heaped salad onto plates and filled glasses. Everyone sat down and they crunched into their spring mix, but it felt like only seconds before Craig could feel Eddie and Gina's eyes on him, glaring expectantly.

Craig cleared his throat.

This left room for Mitch to guess again. “Did somebody die?” 

That threw Craig for a loop. “Why would anyone’s death make me happy?”

“I don't know. Maybe you've got a multimillionaire eccentric aunt who left you a mansion,” Mitch defended.

“Isn't that the movie we saw together, like, last week?” Eddie asked.

“House,” Gina agreed. “That was a terrible film.”

“Nobody died!” Craig set his head in his hands.

Eddie spoke up again, and this time he directed his words to Mitch. “I'm fucking Craig. And Gina. I'm fucking Craig and Gina.”

“Eddie!” Gina said, “Craig wanted to practice.” Her tone was in that zone where she thought someone was being ridiculous, but she was along for the ride. Craig couldn't be sure with his head still in his hands, but Gina probably kicked Eddie under the table.

“We are definitely _not_ telling my parents like that,” Craig muttered to his fingers.

“It's very clear,” Eddie said in his own defense.

Craig looked up in time to watch Mitch's mouth open and close like a fish flushing his gills. “I'm sorry, he's what? You're what?”

“Apparently not that clear,” Gina teased.

“The three of us,” Craig paused and made a swirly motion with one finger to encompass Gina, Eddie, and himself, “are all seeing each other.”

There was a tense moment where everyone returned to vigorously eating salad as though it was the most exciting activity on earth.

“When you moved Eddie in, I expected something like that,” Mitch replied, having apparently sufficiently recovered. Craig suspected Mitch was lying through his teeth, but he wasn't asking them if they're sure, or warning them to be careful, and that was enough of a win. 

Giddy with relief at completing even a trial run, Craig got up to clear the salad plates with an actual spring to his step.

Mitch decided on that moment to make Craig regret all of his life choices. “Wait, now that Eddie knows you date guys that means I can tell the Maluaka Turtle story.”

Craig threw Mitch a glare as he put the plates in the sink. “Absolutely not.”

Eddie shot Craig a curious look and Craig knew he'd already lost this one, but he protested all the way back to the table regardless.

“So let me set the scene.” Mitch tipped back in his chair and loosened his tie like he owned the room, and Craig knew he was never getting out of it. “We're in Hawaii, cruising along when Craig picks up this guy, who convinces us we gotta go see these turtles.”

The story ended several winding turns later after elaborating on their B & E, several ill-advised dares, and at least two crimes that Craig was glad were past the statute of limitations when Mitch said, “and that's when we learned turtles bite anything hanging in front of their faces.”

“Charming,” Gina said, her patience for Mitch clearly had worn thin, but it was Eddie that Craig was worried about. Because it was Eddie who was looking at them sort of funny.

“What was his name?” Eddie asked.

“Who?” Mitch asked in return.

“The turtle guy you just told an elaborate story about!”

“Derrick,” Craig supplied easily. “And Mitch only remembers the names of anyone I was interested in if he also wanted in their pants. Forgive his terribly selective memory.”

Craig did not miss the way relief bloomed across Eddie's face.

* * *

Eddie had done the 'meet the parents thing' before. He got that it was reassuring to be willing to sit there and let your future in-laws take a verbal swing at you. In the best case scenario, the person you were dating backed you up. In the worst case scenario, the whole thing blew up in everybody's face. Eddie didn't even contemplate the worst case scenario when it came to meeting Craig’s parents because Craig was dependable and there was no way Craig was going to blow it.

Until he did. Until Craig stood there and introduced him as Eddie Kramer with no hints of anything that indicated he hadn't just wandered in here for dinner. Maybe he shouldn't have expected Craig to lead with “Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend,” but Eddie had, and the sting of rejection was beginning to take shape, lodging itself deep in his chest.

“Eddie is—” Gina started, but Craig cut her off with a look that Eddie couldn't identify, leaving Eddie himself to fill in the space.

“—so pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy,” Eddie said as he shook both of their hands. Then he swiftly retreated to the kitchen, desperate for anything to do that didn't involve outing Craig or punching him in the nose.

So he found himself setting out the first course, something that resembled a Pop-Tart but was filled with crab. He prodded it dubiously with his fork and then looked over at Gina who shrugged incrementally, and leaned over to whisper, “Her recipe.” Eddie then glanced over at Craig who looked like he was plucking up his courage to interrupt his parents. The elder Pomeroys were entertaining themselves with a steady stream of chatter about their past year, and trading backhanded compliments about Gina. Eventually, Eddie brought out the next course just to get away from the table.

“I left the firm,” Craig said finally.

“Did a better offer come along?” Craig's mother asked.

“You could say that, I'm practicing independently.”

“Sounds an awful lot like lazing about to me,” Craig’s father contradicted.

His mother turned her gaze on Gina. “How could you let this happen?”

“I don't presume to tell Craig how to live his life. Unlike the pair of you.” Gina muttered the second sentence though Eddie was near enough to catch it.

Craig's eyes narrowed. “I wanted to do more lifeguarding. The beach makes me happy!”

Commotion erupted from the three non-Gina Pomeroys, while Gina threaded her fingers through Eddie's. He held her hand like a lifeline.

“He'll get to it,” Gina whispered again. Though to Eddie's ears, she sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as him.

“It's no wonder Gina's having an affair with the young man you hired to buttle,” Craig's mom said, her voice rising above the general din. “Homewrecker,” she hissed.

Eddie, unprepared to be addressed, startled at the accusation. His free hand knocked into his drinking glass and sent a river of ice water streaming into Gina's lap. 

Gina shrieked and jumped out of her chair as Eddie righted the glass. Craig was up out of his chair with his napkin a beat later, but Eddie waved him off, already mopping the water up off the table and chair.

“Eddie isn't our butler,” Gina corrected, though the declaration was somewhat undercut by the fact he was helping her blot at her dress.

“Eddie's my,” Craig paused, swallowing hard and the entire room froze for a moment. “Coworker. Down at Baywatch.”

“So this hooligan is responsible for you throwing away a perfectly good job to bum about on the beach all day? What the hell is he doing at family dinner?” Craig's father asked.

“I'm beginning to wonder that myself, Sir,” Eddie replied with a sharp look at Craig. Part of Eddie wanted to just drop the news in the most vulgar terms he could think of. Craig's parents deserved the shock of their lives.

“I think I need a new dress,” Gina announced, pulling Eddie away from thoughts of revenge. “Eddie, help me pick one out?”

He nodded and followed her to the bedroom, where he helped her zip out of the dress and Gina grabbed a sweatshirt. 

Eddie laughed. “Are we dropping the dress code?”

“Craig's dress code can go looking for his courage, as far as I'm concerned. T-shirt?”

Eddie nodded. “Thanks.” He knew that Gina was perfectly happy in a dress, and so he appreciated the gesture all the more.

“You’re welcome,” Gina said as she tossed him a shirt. 

Eddie caught it and started undoing the buttons on the one he'd been wearing. “I'm not actually mad at Craig.”

“Good. I can be furious enough for the both of us.” Gina shimmied into a pair of jeans.

“No, I mean, okay, maybe a little, but anyone can see his parents get him bent out of shape. His whole lawguard breakdown makes a lot more sense.” Eddie laughed again but it sort of hung there. He shrugged out of the dress shirt and yanked the dark tee over his head.

Gina smoothed his hair down where the shirts had mussed it. “You're calmer than I was when I first met the twin tornados.”

“I'm used to being judged on sight.” He sighed and tugged Gina closer. “Will I have better luck when we go to New York?”

“Honestly?” she asked.

Eddie shook his head. “Not tonight. Lie to me.”

“In that case, I'm confident they'll adore you.”

“Thanks.” Eddie stepped back out of her arms. “Come on, let's rescue Craig.”

By the time Eddie and Gina rejoined the others, everything had gone quiet. The air was heavy like the moments after saving a would-be downer who's now breathing steady on their own again but the crowd hasn't wandered off yet. Eddie's pulse picked up in response.

“I told them,” Craig explained.

“And frankly we couldn't be more relieved.” Craig mother's came over and inexplicably hugged Eddie. “Sorry I mistook you for a butler, dear.”

“Apology accepted, Mrs. Pomeroy,” he said, mostly so she'd release him before he gagged on the scent of her cloying perfume. She thankfully let go and Eddie took a deep breath as subtlety as he could once she left his personal space.

“Yes, it's a little unusual. But a...” Craig’s father looked over at Eddie dubiously.

“I believe the correct term is boytoy,” Craig’s mother suggested.

“This fling,” he settled on instead, “is certainly cheaper than a sportscar as far as midlife crises go.”

“It’s less ridiculous than the awful shade of hair dye you took up using when you were going through this phase,” his wife put in. 

They started to chuckle, reminiscing further, and Eddie's ears rang, blocking out whatever Craig might have said in response. It stung to be compared to a flashy purchase, but it was nowhere as painful as hearing his worst fears confirmed aloud. He's a phase.

How long before he was the one reduced to a funny story Mitch told, or a fond mistake Gina and Craig could reminisce about when they were old and gray? Next Thanksgiving, the year after? God, he'd been so stupid.

He was humiliated enough to consider walking out immediately, but if he was going to go back to sleeping under the tower, he could compromise his pride long enough to finish dinner. It was only practical; who knew when he'd eat this well again? He reined his swirling emotions back in, and took his place at the table. He swallowed plates of food and a chocolate mousse that he knew to be delicious but tasted little better than sand. He answered any direct questions posed to him, but otherwise he willed himself to fade into the background. 

Both Gina and Craig shot him worried looks, but Eddie couldn't answer them with company present, so he mostly stared down at his plate. 

When Craig's parents finally left, Craig was the one to show them to the door, and Eddie didn't listen in. 

“Don't hate me,” Craig pleaded. He was at Eddie's side before Eddie had even registered he was coming back his way.

“I don't,” Eddie answered, truthfully. This would hurt so much less if he did.

“Good.” Craig smiled in a way that made Eddie's chest ache. “I know I couldn't make them understand this time, but I'll try again I pro—”

“Don't,” Eddie cut him off midword, his tone a knife. “They weren't wrong.”

“Of course they are. You're not a phase.” Craig and Gina encircled Eddie from both sides pulling him into a tight hug. Their warmth seeped into him, and tension he didn't know he'd been holding ebbed away as he sank into Gina's curves and Craig's harder planes. 

They gently tugged on him and herded Eddie toward their beds. The mattresses were still pushed together from when they’d been used that morning, a moment that felt like a lifetime ago after the stress of the evening. Craig and Gina didn't let go even as they all navigated their way into bed.

Cocooned in a tangle of his partners’ bodies, Eddie wanted to believe in the love he had come in trust in this past year. However words like homewrecker, and phase, and midlife crisis still rattled around his brain, looming large over Craig's whispered apologies and the soft kisses pressed to Eddie's exposed skin.

Eddie wiggled and dislodged the others. “I know you love me,” he acknowledged, “But Craig's parents have a point. No matter what we feel, I am always going to look like an intruder.”

“Not necessarily.” Gina hauled herself back out of bed, nudging Craig over Eddie like a thick quilt. “Guard him until I get back.”

“My pleasure,” Craig said, slinging one leg over to straddle Eddie's hips. He lowered his mouth toward Eddie and Eddie closed the remaining distance, pressing his mouth to Craig's. Despite the nagging doubts, Eddie felt better with his tongue down Craig's throat.

The bed creaked as Gina slid into it once more. Craig pulled away and Eddie let out a whimper of protest at the loss.

Craig chuckled and brushed a kiss to Eddie's collarbone, while Gina nudged him. “Eddie, sit up a second. You need to read something.”

“Huh?” Eddie shook himself as he propped up on his elbows.

 _Petition for the Dissolution of Marriage_ was at the top of the page that Gina pushed under his nose. She flipped a few more pages to point at where Craig and Gina's signatures were inked on to the lines at the bottom.

Eddie glanced over at Craig blankly.

“I had a friend draw them up. I'm not a divorce attorney,” he answered as though Eddie was curious about the quality of the legalwork and not the fact that the one stable thing in his life was about to tear itself in half.

Craig was apparently still talking, “...wanted to do something to address the legal imbalance here.”

“I can't believe you're doing this.” Eddie’s reply came out a bit numb and toneless.

“What Craig’s trying to say is while we can't erase our history or that people might not see what we know, it doesn't mean we can't start to build something new,” Gina said.

Craig started to talk again. “Unfortunately one of the only countries that recognizes a plural marriage with two men is Tibet, and Tibetan looks difficult to learn.”

“It’s also freezing, and you boys would miss your beach,” Gina added smugly.

His brain raced to catch up. They didn't hate each other. A wave of solace in knowing that Craig and Gina were fine mixed with still simmering frustration. “Getting divorced and contemplating an international move without even telling me kind of proves my point, you know. You wouldn't have done this without telling Gina.”

“I'm not sure that's even possible,” Craig mumbled. “I mean she had to sign.”

“Eddie, wait, we didn’t file them. We would never take this kind of step without you. The papers are just a sort of promise. A just in case,” Gina explained.

Craig nodded. “Because you deserve a wedding if you want one. I'm happy to trade places and be the interloping boyfriend, any time you ask.”

“Only if you want to,” Gina stressed. “It's the only reason we hadn't shown you immediately. I don't want you to feel pushed into committing to anything.”

“Way to terrify a guy,” he muttered. Once the fear and anger washed away, Eddie realized the impact of what they were offering.

A wedding. _His_ wedding with Gina. It wouldn't be any closer to the truth than they were now, and yet it is nice to know the option is there. The opportunity to tell anyone who asked that someone wanted him in their life forever. It felt funny acknowledging the possibility of it. A future so far from the uncomplicated, stick with what's good for now kind that he thought he’d always wanted.

“It was too much, wasn't it?” Craig said, the hesitancy in his voice cut into Eddie's thoughts.

“Not exactly. I just didn't get that the end point was I marry Gina, not ‘congrats Eddie you really did wreck a marriage’ at first. Explain Tibet,” he said quickly because he didn't want to hear them apologize again.

Craig trailed a hand down Eddie's chest, spread his palm low on Eddie's belly, stroked tiny circles along Eddie’s abs with his thumb. “Legal curiosity. I needed to know that there might be hope to tell everyone the whole truth someday. To know that somewhere in the world, people would understand I love both of you, so much.”

A long, more comfortable pause followed as Eddie mulled this over. 

“I never meant for anything about tonight to hurt you,” Craig said with sincerity.

Eddie knew that. He also understood why it had taken Craig as long as it had to try talking to his folks. “We all agreed this was the best time,” Eddie reminded both Craig and himself. 

Gina carded her fingers through Eddie’s hair, pressed a kiss behind one of his ears. “They can be as rude as they like, it doesn’t make them right. You belong right here, for as long as you want to stay.”

Feeling overwhelmed, Eddie retreated to an easy lie. “It wasn't that big a deal. Nothing I haven't gotten before.”

Craig called him out. “Right, you’re fine. That was why you wanted to bolt halfway through dinner.”

Gina reached out and tipped Eddie's head until his eyes locked with hers. “You didn't deserve to be dismissed like that, and you don't have to pretend you're okay.”

“I know,” Eddie whispered. He wished he was better at this, talking things out. Just thinking about it all was making him tired and jittery, all at once. “I’ve just had enough feelings for tonight.” He burrowed down closer to Gina. Craig scooted in too, and trailed gentle kisses down the back of Eddie’s neck. 

Eddie let the rhythm of his partners’ heartbeats lull him to sleep.

* * *

Gina contemplated cancelling visiting her own family this year. It was Eddie who convinced her to keep to her original plans. He told her that he didn't want to be a secret any more than she wanted to keep him one. He also promised to let her know if anyone rattled him again, so she booked their plane tickets and kept her fingers crossed.

She was still nervous when the three of them flew out to New York a couple of weeks later. The flight itself was ideal: on time, smooth, and easy. They claimed a row together. Eddie was pressed to the window, watching the patchwork quilt of the country scroll by under the clouds. Craig took the aisle seat, making notes on a brief spread out in his lap. Gina reread the same page, in the paperback she'd purchased, six times.

She shut the book and sighed. Gina's mother was her best friend, present company not included of course, and she wasn't sure what she'd do if her parents failed to understand. It had been hard enough not being able to share that she'd fallen in love. Her mother should’ve heard about the dozens of moments of magic and heartbreak wrapped up inside the journey, just as she had when Gina met Craig.

Gina couldn't imagine going the rest of her life carefully editing around someone who was to be a major part of it.

Unlike Craig's approach, she had tried to explain over the phone. Unfortunately so far all that had managed to achieve was that Gina had needed to put Craig on the phone to swear up and down that Gina wasn't about to be arrested for bigamy. She hoped it would be easier to explain once they were all in the same room.

There were a pair of pizzas from one of Gina’s favorite haunts waiting when they arrived at her parents. They stuffed themselves with appetizer-sized squares of cheese and crust as Gina made introductions. Introductions which mostly consisted of saying, “You remember Craig,” followed by “and this is my boyfriend, Eddie,” until they’d made rounds. It was not long before Eddie, as the newest member of the family, was dragged off with the aunts to potato shredding and draining duty. Gina worked her way to a grater to give herself a chance to check on him. She stole a kiss on her way past him. “Everything going okay in here?”

Eddie laughed, rich and genuine this time. “I like being initiated. I’ve been told I have the arms for it.” He abandoned his potato and wiped his hands on a dish towel before pulling Gina in by the hips for another kiss. “Really I’m fine.”

The moment was broken as Eddie got twacked in the shoulder with a wooden spoon. “Less kissing, more shredding,” Grandma Ethel commanded.

“Grandma, be careful!” Gina protested.

Grandma Ethel was decidedly unrepentant. “Stop distracting your boychik, or get out of my kitchen.”

Gina relented, releasing Eddie and they both returned to their kitchen tasks. 

The friendly atmosphere continued through several rounds of after-dinner board games and no one commented as the three of them headed off to bed in their single guest room together.

“Does anyone else feel like we’ve gotten off too easy?” Craig asked, his question piercing the bubble of contentment Gina had been feeling and striking at the unease simmering underneath. Gina would chide him for his pessimism if she hadn't been thinking the same thing. 

“Hey, no complaining because Gina's family likes me better than you. Clearly they recognize she's traded up,” Eddie joked. 

Gina was glad Eddie was feeling more comfortable, but his teasing did nothing to alleviate the feeling the other shoe would drop anytime. Gina had claimed the middle tonight, so she was aware of the exact moment Eddie had fallen asleep, able to watch his face smooth out in repose. That was an hour ago, and Gina remained awake, studying her parents’ ceiling.

“Craig?” she tested.

“Yeah?” He reached out, wrapped an arm around her waist. Gina curled up along his side. “Bad dreams again?”

“No, just worried about tomorrow. What if you're right? What if everyone's just being polite for now?”

“Gina, your family loves you. They actually care about your happiness.” She held Craig a little tighter, aware of the implication.

“You still haven't heard back from your parents?” Gina frowned at that. “I'm sorry.”

“I'm learning to be okay with it. All the family I’ll ever need is right here in this bed.”

“I don't think I could be. I want to marry him, Craig, and I want them all there to see it.”

Even in the dark, she can make out Craig's fond smile. “They will be. Even if you end up having to persuade each and every last one individually. I believe in you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now stop sounding so eager to get rid of me,” Craig added, though he was still smiling.

Gina stretched up, missed her mark, and planted a kiss along the bridge of Craig’s nose. “I don't mean it like that!”

“I know, I know. I'm kidding.” Craig kissed her again and his aim was better. His lips moving against hers, combined with his certainty, sent a wave of contentment up and down her spine. “Get some rest,” he murmured against her lips.

She did.

The next morning, a tired Gina woke up to find both Craig and Eddie were being shepherded off to some male-bonding activity with her dad. The extended relatives weren’t to be back until that evening, which just left Gina, her mom, and Grandma in the house. Gina fixed herself a strong cup of coffee and snagged a pillowy soft bagel. Her mother chose that moment for her ambush.

“When you said you had news to share, I thought that finally—” Gina did not miss the pointed glare directed at her stomach.

“I know what you thought, Mom,” Gina replied before her mother could tread out some cliche about pitter-pattering feet, or tiny bonnets, or what have you. 

“Well? For years you tell me you are waiting to be settled. This year, you show up with Craig and some young man claiming to be your boyfriend, is that settled to you?”

“He's not claiming to be my anything, Mom. Eddie _is_ my boyfriend and I love him every bit as much as I love Craig.” Joy caught flame in her chest at just saying it aloud. She had really missed confiding in her mother. “Don't you like him?”

“He's very polite,” she conceded. “And you know I want for you every happiness.”

Gina nodded and waited.

“Which is exactly why you need to experience the joy of motherhood. Two men should mean twice the chances. What are you waiting for now?”

There it was. Gina thunked her head against the back of her chair and chewed another mouthful of bagel slowly as an excuse to delay her answer. The truth was that she had barely thought about kids since Eddie had come into her life. Falling madly in love for the second time had been incredible, but navigating what it meant to truly slot someone other than Craig into her day-to-day had been its own seismic shift. That wasn't to say she wouldn't ever want to start a family, but Craig had always been less ready for kids anyway...and then there were Eddie’s feelings to consider. She’d never asked him, but given his own childhood, she wouldn't be surprised if his feelings on the matter were complicated.

“It might not be in the cards,” Gina said finally.

Her mother shot her a wounded look as though choosing to remain childless was the gravest affront to humankind. “You’re not getting any younger, Gina. You might regret it.”

Gina took a long fortifying sip from her mug. “Mom, I love you, but this is for Eddie, Craig, and I to decide together. No one else. And whatever we decide, I'm happier than I’ve ever been.”

“The only reason we tolerated this unusual arrangement of yours is because Eddie would be a help when the baby comes. Every new mother needs an extra pair of hands.”

While it was obvious her mother had designed the remark to be hurtful, Gina couldn't help but burst out laughing. 

“What's on Earth’s so funny?”

“Craig's parents mistook him for a butler, and now you’ve decided he’s a midwife.” Gina laughed again, harder the second time as she pictured Eddie in a hairnet and scrubs. “I'm not sure which is the upgrade.”

Grandma Ethel looked up from her knitting, a sour expression on her face. “Is this any way to behave? Stop being rude to your mother, and you, bubbeleh,” Grandma looped off a stitch and gestured with one of her needles toward her daughter, “You lived through the free love generation only to become a hypocrite. My granddaughter has chosen two fine young men.”

It was hard to keep the delight out of her expression as her mother received a dressing down—or in contemplating the potentially wilder youth her mother might have had—but Gina refrained. Instead, she got up and pulled her mother in for a hug.

“You raised me to follow my heart, trust that I'm doing it now,” Gina said.

She gave Gina a tight squeeze. “All right, all right. No more about it. Instead, tell me everything about this Eddie. You've kept too much from me.”

“Oh mom, I wanted to tell you,” Gina assured her as she sat down again. “I wanted to tell you everything. He's so kind, and fiercely protective, and braver than anyone I've ever met. There's so much to say. Where do I even start?”

Gina swiveled in her chair as her mother got up to refill her own mug. “Start with the best part,” she suggested, grinning. “When did you know he was forever? Worth bringing to meet us.”

At first Gina wanted to protest that wasn't that simple, there wasn't one moment. But then an image formed in her mind, clear and insistent. “The night I was kidnapped by that monster.” She'd told her mom about that night of course, and about how Craig dove in after her, kept her afloat, but she'd left out when Eddie fished them out of the water. Said nothing about the moment they'd had afterward.

“I knew we cared about each other before that, but I didn't realize how badly I wanted to be back in his arms. He made me laugh and it was like the world was right side up again.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” She handed Gina a tissue and Gina dabbed at her eyes.

“We'd been supposed to go dancing that night. We'd been at a party when...it happened, and when I couldn't sleep that night, he stayed up with me. I got my dance, spinning round and round in the living room. He hummed music all night long to chase the darkness away.”

That story opened a floodgate and Gina reshared the past year in a new light now that her mom knew better. They were still talking when the front door banged open, and in came Craig, Eddie, and her father.

Gina ran to greet each of them, starting with her dad first. He pulled her into a hug and whispered, “I like Eddie, Gina.”

“Good because he's here to stay,” she murmured. Then louder, brighter, she added, “Where were my three favorite men off to at this early hour?”

“We played cards,” Eddie answered and worry immediately creased Gina's forehead.

Craig chimed in, “For matchsticks. Everything's fine.” His eyes locked with Gina's, he and Eddie both smiled, and the fear evaporated.

Gina's father, oblivious to the wave of concern, grinned proudly. “I also gave Eddie ‘The Speech’.”

“He means he threatened me within an inch of my life,” Eddie complained.

“That sounds familiar,” Craig agreed. 

“I'm only making sure to look out for my favorite girl,” her dad replied, which proved he thought Eddie was sticking around. There was no better stamp of fatherly approval.

Craig and Eddie made their way into the kitchen where Gina heard: “You'd name a baby, Ethel, wouldn't you?”

“Uhhh,” Eddie stalled. 

“That is still not happening, Grandma!”

* * *

Given the craziness of meeting both sets of his in-laws, Eddie was grateful he didn't have family that he had to worry about telling anything. As for his friends, well, anyone who predated his time at Baywatch simply wasn't around to tell, and largely Eddie believed in leaving his past in his past. As for the Baywatch crew itself, Eddie was willing to let Craig take point there.

Except, he realized, when it came to Shauni. It wasn't that Eddie felt he owed her an explanation. Mostly, he needed someone who wasn't Craig and Gina to talk about Craig and Gina, at least once in a while. Shauni was admittedly his best shot at a friend for that kind of a thing.

He set New Year's Eve as his deadline, and it took him all the way until then to get to it. Some poetic crap about the fresh start presented by a new year had gotten under his skin. Rather than invite her to dinner, he asked her to take a walk along the beach with him. Eddie waited until dusk. Because if anyone was stupid enough to be swimming on December 31st, he trusted that they were a lot less likely to be doing it in the dark. He couldn't have this moment interrupted by an unfortunately-timed rescue. He only belatedly realized that once it started getting starry, the environment would be setting the wrong mood.

Eddie plowed ahead anyway. “I have something I want to tell you.”

“I figured,” Shauni said.

“It's...you might think it's weird,” Eddie hedged.

“Eddie, I work at Baywatch. I'm good with weird things.”

There was some truth to that. “Baywatch is a burrito of insane experiences,” Eddie said, “But this, this is like mangoes. It's not a standard burrito ingredient, okay?”

“Some people like mango salsa,” Shauni pointed out, and he wasn't sure whether she was trying to help with his metaphor, or being reassuring, or what exactly, but it helped. 

“I'm dating Craig and Gina. Pomeroy,” he added their last name a split second later, as though there were a few dozen Craig and Gina's which Shauni might need to apply this information to and he was helping her narrow it down rather than just afraid to stop talking.

She said, “Oh,” after a beat of silence and nothing else followed. They padded silently across the sand.

“That's all you’ve got: oh?”

Shauni came to a stop, her hands on her hips. “What did you expect me to say?”

“I don't know,” Eddie admitted and kicked the edge of the surf with his toes. “Mitch told me wild stories, Craig’s parents called me a homewrecker, and Gina's parents just want someone to knock her up, apparently.”

“Okay, first, ew.” Shauni’s face wrinkled in disgust.

“Tell me about it,” Eddie muttered.

“Second, it sounds like everyone else made this about them, and it's not. It’s not about me either.” Shauni turned and looked out over the water, and Eddie did the same. They stood watching the dark waves as they rolled in, even and steady. She patted him on the shoulder. “As long as we can be friends, and you're good, then it doesn't matter what I think.”

“We can, and I am.” The relief curled up around him like the wet sand enveloped his toes. “But I still want to know what you think.”

“Well then, I think it's only a matter of time before you become weird. You know, married people are weird.” Shauni smirked at him.

“Oh I'm already there.” Eddie leaned down, and arced a wave of seawater toward Shauni. She was faster, jumping out of the way and taking off down the beach. Eddie hurried to chase after her.

Shauni turned, jogging backwards now, her speed slowing with each stride. “You’re insane,” she called back. “And Craig and Gina are lucky to have you!”

Eddie caught up to her, breathing heavy though his spirit was lighter. “They really are.” His tone was sarcastic, but Shauni's was completely sincere.

“Glad you know it,” she replied.

Belonging surged through him, a certainty strong enough to block all the doubt. It couldn't always matter what people thought, but sometimes it did, and he was glad to have an ally all his own.

Eddie was sure he’d been about to say something profound and worthy of the moment, when Shauni shoved him off-balance and he toppled onto his ass in the sand.

“What the hell?” he asked.

Shauni offered him a hand up. “A reminder to stop running around with me and get home in time for your New Year's kiss, you idiot.”

Eddie accepted her help up, and knocked the sand free from his legs. “I have hours!”

“I don't mess around with love and luck, Eddie, and neither should you.”

Eddie heeded Shauni's advice, but he wasn't worried. When it came to love and luck, he already had plenty of both.

* * *

Whoever had proposed and implemented keeping Baywatch open all 365 days a year had likely never spent much time on the beach. It wasn't somebody like Mitch; no lifeguard who rose through ranks would have signed onto this. Craig knew that because the weather on New Year's Day 1990—temps unlikely to rise above the mid-50s, skies hazy, gusty breeze—on top of a holiday itself that encouraged lazy mornings sleeping in made beachgoers unlikely all morning.

Still, Craig and Eddie took the bright and early shift, and Craig was grateful to whatever idiot was responsible for letting him guard empty sand for two reasons. For one thing, it gave Craig a built-in excuse not to stay up to see midnight tick over in his own time zone. Instead, the three of them had counted down to midnight alongside the revelers in Times Square, and Craig had collected his celebratory kisses at that point, and was asleep by 9:30 PM local time. Some years were harder to let go of than others. And in spite of every moment of fear and loss and tragedy in the past year, the good had outweighed the bad. Craig had the proof of that walking right beside him.

As for the second thing, well, with no one around he could slip his hand into Eddie's. Holding hands as they moved across the beach in their wetsuits, stealing a moment to make out inside a tower. It was freeing to be coupley in all their favorite spaces.

Almost freeing, Craig corrected himself. He did still reflexively glance up and down the beach, worried about the possibility of discovery. He wondered if there'd come a day where that would end, and how many more new years were between this moment and then?

“How'd it go with Shauni last night?” Craig asked, dragging himself back to the present.

“Went fine. She's on our side,” Eddie answered, though he didn't elaborate.

Craig wasn't used to it, these gentle lapses in conversation. His friends, his frenemies, even Gina, tended to be vibrant and boisterous. They took up space. They were the waves and froth to his stiller waters. Still he settled into the quiet.

“What are you thinking about now?” Eddie asked later as they snuggled up together in the sand.

“That being awake early on New Year's Day makes me feel like I'm living in the future and right now the future feels awfully bright.” 

“That is so unbelievably corny.” Eddie laughed at him and Craig delighted in the feel of it rumbling against his skin. He was so in love.

“Hey, you asked.” For some reason, Craig couldn't stop smiling. 

“But you're right,” Eddie said, pausing long enough to claim Craig's mouth for another kiss. “The future must be bright because I'm looking forward to the next year and beyond and...I love it.”

Craig liked the way pure hope looked in Eddie's eyes. “I love you.”

“That too,” Eddie agreed, smiling just as much. 

It was then that Craig spotted a figure coming up the beach toward them. For a brief and terrible moment, Craig pondered springing away, and how best not to hurt Eddie as they pretended nothing was happening here. That was until he spotted the large sun hat, and every part of his body relaxed.

“I brought lunch!” Gina called as she drew close, swinging a basket as proof.

“Gina, the savior of empty stomachs everywhere!” Eddie hopped to his feet and tugged Craig up with him. “I'm calling it. Life doesn't get more perfect than this.”

This kind of perfect suited Craig just fine.


End file.
